A local Applebee’s franchisee has purchased property in the Plazzio retail development at 13th Street North and Greenwich Road.
But Jim Stevens says he’s not ready to put one of his casual dining restaurants there.
“The one I bought is purely speculative,†says Stevens, owner of Wichita-based JS Ventures, which owns 25 Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grills in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
He purchased the property from developer George Laham at the same time he bought ground from Laham at Maple Street and Ridge Road for a new prototype Applebee’s that will replace a store at 6730 W. Central.
The Plazzio property, he says, is too close to Andover, where Stevens already has a restaurant.
“If I didn’t have my store in Andover, I would consider it. But that would just kill my Andover store,†he says.
